The first place most people encounter rare books is not a library, but through their depictions in pop culture. Pop Bibliography is a theoretical framework to conceive the myriad of ways in which these “old books” appear across popular media, and what that can tell us about book history as a cultural concept. It is a visual manifestation of abstract ideas about the meaning, use, and reception of historic books, which deeply influences how both scholars and the public engage with these objects.

Join Allie Alvis, curator of special collections of the Winterthur Library in Delaware to learn about the many places Pop Bibliography pops up, and why it is so pervasive.

Attend in person

Entry to this event is free but bookings are essential. 

Watch online

The presentation will also be available online. Please make a booking and we will send you a direct link to the livestream event via email. Or you can join anytime through the Library's YouTube channel.  

About the speaker

Allie Alvis is Curator of Special Collections of the Winterthur Library, where they are responsible for the stewardship and engagement of the collection. Allie has previously worked as an antiquarian bookseller at Type Punch Matrix (Washington, DC) and as the special collections reference librarian for the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.

Allie's research is diverse and far-reaching, with interests in physical patterns of use in books, the history of ephemera, and Arts and Crafts book bindings. They have published on topics including the history of rebinding illuminated manuscripts, the reuse of type ornaments in 16th and 17th century England, the work of bookbinders Douglas Cockerell and Son, and the use of arsenical green pigments in bookbinding.

Allie is particularly involved in the study and act of using social media for communicating book history and maintains popular accounts across various platforms as Book Historia. They received MScs in Material Culture & Book History, and Information Management from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively, and a BA in Linguistics from the University of Kansas.